Mother of Pearl

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Letter from Thomas Edison to Mikimoto at Pearl Island, 1927

Read a letter from Thomas Edison to Mikimoto at Pearl Island. Get a glimpse of the friendship between these two inventors.

Smiling Kokichi Mikimoto

In 1927, during a tour of the U.S. and Europe, Kokichi Mikimoto met a man he highly admired--Thomas Edison.

He and Edison visited together at Thomas Edison's home in West Orange, New Jersey--a memorable event in Mikimoto's life.

Here is the contents of a letter from Thomas Edison to Mikimoto at Pearl Island.

At the time of this letter Mikimoto was age 69 and Edison age 80.

Letter from Thomas Edison

Dear Kokichi,

Allow me to thank-you for the very fine photograph of yourself, which you kindly autographed and sent by the hand of Mr. Ikeda.

I'm very glad to learn from him and Mr. Lee that your enterprize is succeeding well and I congratulate you not only upon that fact but on your decoration by the Japanese government.

With all good wishes, I remain very truly,

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison quote

During their visit together, while examining a pearl, Edison said to Kokichi,

"This isn't a cultured pearl, it's a real pearl. There are two things which couldn't be made at my laboratory--diamonds and pearls. It is one of the wonders of the world that you were able to culture pearls. It is something which is supposed to be biologically impossible."

Kokichi responded, "If you were the moon of the world of inventors, I would simply be one of the many tiny stars."

This is a particularly interesting statement made by Thomas Edison--"There are two things which couldn't be made at my laboratory--diamonds and pearls."--in light of the following information.

This doesn't mean that Edison didn't TRY to make these things (although I've found no record of them trying to make laboratory pearls).

French chemist, Henri Moissan (1852-1907) tried to produce artificial diamonds in iron crucibles at the Edison workshops in Paris.

AND in 1970, the General Electric Company announced the laboratory creation of gem-quality diamonds.

Edison's dream did come true, after all.

Award for Mikimoto

To the right is an award Kokichi Mikimoto received: "1st order of Sacred Treasure" Awarded for his contribution to development of culture.

10 Inventor's Club

Kokichi Mikimoto was named one of 10 great inventors to be honored at a banquet at the Imperial Palace in 1930.

After that banquet, Mikimoto founded the "10 Inventor's Club."

You can see the letter from Thomas Edison to Mikimoto at Pearl Island.